Stop mechanism



D. F. LEPLEY.

STOP MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED Jun/.9. 1918.

1,346,378. t d uly 13, 1920.

4 SHEETS-SHEET I.

JLZZ

D. F. LEPLEY.

STOP MECHANISM.

'APPUCATION FILED JULY 9, {918.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Patented July 13,1920.

J Elwuemtobl D. F. LEPLEY.

STOP MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 9, I918.

Patented July 13, 1920.

4 SHEETS$HEET 3.

D. F. LEPLEY.

STOP MECHANISM,

APPLICATION FILED JULY 9,1918.

1,346, 3 78. v Patented uly 13, 1920.

4 ssssssssssss 4.

6 m R N Uhll'lED STATES PATENT QFFlCE.

DANIEL F. LEPLEY, OF CONNELLSVILLE, PENNSYLVANIA.

STOP MECHANISM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 13, 1920.

Original application filed September 19, 1917, Serial No. 192,162. Divided and. this application filed. July To all whom it may concern .ie it known that l, DANIEL F. Lerner, a citizen of the United States, residing at Uonnellsville, in the county of Fayette and State oi? Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Stop Mechanism, of which the following is a specification. f

This invention relates to apparatus for use in connection with inclined hoists such as used in mines, and it is more particularly a division of an application filed by me on September 19, 1917, Serial Number 192,162.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide a stop mechanism whereby the hoisting apparatus, which is operated by an electric motor, will be stopped gradually as the car reaches the upper limit of its movement, the stopping of the car and its hoisting apparatus taking place automatically so that even though the operator in charge should not be paying attention to the mechanism, the car will, nevertheless, come to a step without injury to the apparatus or to the contents of the car.

2 further object is to provide the controller of the hoisting apparatus with means whereby, as the car approaches the upper limit of its movement, the current is'cut oil from the motor with a step by step move ment, for. the purpose of stopping the ap paratus gradually.

Another object is to provide brake mechanism of novel form.

A still further object is to provide a novel form oi yielding clutch torcouplingthe hoisting mechanism to the operating means of the controller and for uncoupling it therefrom.

With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention resides in the combination and arrangement or" parts and in the details of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it being understood that changes in the precise embodiment of the invention herein disclosed can be made within the scope of what is claimed without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings the preferred form of the invention has been shown.

In said drawings 7 Figure 1 is a plan view of a portion of a mine hoist having the present improvements combined therewith.

Serial No. 244,071.

Fig. 2 is a section on line 22, Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a detail view of the controller operating means.

Fig. lis a detail view of the yieldable clutch.

Fig. 5 is a face view thereof.

Fig. 6 is a vertical transverse section through the valve gearing.

Fig. 7 is an enlarged section through the clutch, its sleeve and adjacent parts.

Referring to the figures by characters of reference, A. designates an electric motor under the constant control of controller B, which is of the drum type. The motor transmits motion through a suitable coup ling C to a shaft D carrying a gear E which transmits motion through a larger gear F to the cable drum G of the hoisting apparatus. This drum has a brake wheel H at one side thereof and adapted to rotate therewith.

The brake wheel H is partly surrounded by a brake band I one end of which is fixedly secured as indicated at I while its other end is connected to one arm of a bell crank lever 1 fulcrumed as at 2 and having its other end slidably and pivotally connected to the short arm 3 of another bell crank lever d. This lever 4 is fulcruined, as at 5, upon the short arm 6 of a lever 7 which is mounted on a suitable supporting member 8. The other arm of the lever is forked to provide parallel members as shown at 9 in Fig. 1 and on each of these members is mounted an adjustable weight 10.

The members of the forked lever extend past opposite sides of valve gearing which has been indicated generally at 11, and which has been described and claimed in Patent No. 1,183,306, issued to me on May 16, 1916. This valve gearing includes in the present instance a pressure cylinder 12, located below a dash pot 13, both the pressure cylinder and the dash pot having valve connections of the form illustrated in my patent before mentioned, the valves or the cylinder and dash pot being connected by rods 14- to a lever 16 which extends between the cylinder and its dash pot and is t'ulcrumed at 17. The piston rod 18 which works in the cylinder 12 and its dash pot 13 is provided with a cross head 19 the ends of which are connected by links 20 to the members 9 of the forked lever 7. Thus when the lever 16 is shifted in one direction, the valve gearing will be shifted to direct pressure intothe lower end of the cylinder 12' to cause the fluid under pressure. As the valve mechanis'm per se constitutes no part of the present invention but has already been described and illustrated fully in my patent before mentioned, it is not deemed necessary to enter into a detailed description thereof in v the present case.

The lever? and adjacent parts are preferably extended under a platform 21 to be occupied bythe operator, and j ournaled under the platform is a transverse shaft 22 having a radial arm 28 fixedly connected to one end. JThis arm has a longitudinal slot 24 into which projects loosely a pin 25 extending laterally from the lever 16.

Rotating with the drum Gis a sprocket 3.

desi 'ned to transmit motion through a b a chain 38 to another sprocket 39 which is secured to a transverse shaft 40. A gear ll is secured to the shaft and meshes witl'i a larger gear 42 which is feathered on another transverse shaft 43 journaled in the bearings 44 and 15. One end portion of the shaft is screw threaded as shown at 46 and extends through and engages a bearing member 417 so that during the rotation of the winding drum G ineither direction either under the action of a car gravitating down an incline and unwinding a cable from adrum, or during the winding of a cable upon the drum,-

motion will be transmitted to the shaft a3 and the same will be rotated in either direction and fed slowly in the direction of its length.

Loosely mounted on the shaft 48 and journaled within the bearing a5 is a sleeve 48 to which is connected a gear-a9 which cooper ates with the bearing 45 tohold the sleeve against longitudinal movement in one direction. Movement of the sleeve in the opposite direction within the bearing is prevented by a'trip drum 5O constituting no part of thepresent invention. Shaft 43 will rotate freely within this sleeve. 'A clutch member 51 is carried by one end of the sleeve 48 and another clutch member 52 is slidably mounted-relative to the shaft as. This clutch member has pins. 53 extending therefrom, and'slidably mounted within a collar 54 extending from a ,leeve which is fixedly secured to the shaft 13. The clutch member'52 slidably engages this sleeve and springs 55 are mounted on the pins 53 and serve to hold the clutch member 52 pressed yieldably away from the collar 54. This movement under the action of the springs may belimited by extending stop pins 56 through the end portions of the pins 53.

The gear 49 constantly meshes with another gear 57 secured to a transverse shaft 58 and to this shaft issecureda beveled gear 59 which constantly, meshes with a beveled gear 60 secured to one end of a longitudinal shaft 61 which is mounted in suitable bearings 62, depending from the platform 21.' To this shaft 61 is secured a cam in the form of a cylinder 63havi'ng an outstanding thread 6 1 the intermediate portion of which is offset obliquely as shown at 65 while the end portions of the thread are located in parallel planes intersecting the shaft 61 at right angles thereto. This thread constantly engages between two teeth of a rack bar 66'which is slidably mounted in guides 67 under the'shaft 61. The parts are so shaped and positioned that during each rotation of the shaft 61 the thread 6 will move the rack 66 one tooth If shaft 61 is rotated in one direction the rack bar 66 will be'moved intermittently in one direction whereas, if shaft 61 is rotated in the opposite direction, an intermittent right line movement will be imparted to the rack bar in theother direction, As the thread 64 is constantly engaging the rack said rack can have no movement independently of its actuating cam. While this cam and rack are essential features of the presentinvention, they have been disclosed and broadly claimed in Patent 1,294,125 issued to meron February 11th, 1919. 7

One end of the rack bar 66 is pivotally connected to the upper end of a lever 68. The lower end of this lever is pivotally connected to parallel rods 69 and 79 arranged side by side. The rod 69 is slidably mounted in a guide block 71 secured to the lower arm of a controller lever 72 the upper end of which is provided with a grip 73 whereby it can be shifted readily byha'nd. Furthermore the upper end portion of this controller 7 lever is connected by a link 74 to the lever 75 of the controller 3 which, as before stated, isof the drum type. V A collar 76 is mounted on the rod 69 and a v spring 77 is mounted on said rod and bears at its ends against the collar 76 and the guide block 71, respectively. The rod 70 is similarly connected to the lower end of a lever: 78 similar to the lever 72 and having a rod 7 9 pivotally con nected to it. This rod is also pivotally connected to an arm 89 depending from the transverse shaft 22 so that when the lever 78 is moved in either direction motion is trans mitted therefrom through the rod 79 and the c'rank'arm 80, 'tothe shaft 22 and'thence to the floatingvalve gear made up of the parts 12, 13, 14, etc.

A hand lever is mounted at one side of the lovers 72 and 78 and has been indicated at 8i. The lower end of this hand lever is connected by a link 82 to an arm 83 extending upwardly from a transverse shaft 8%, there being anothe arm 85 extending down wardly from this shaft and connected by a rod to the upper arm of the bell crank lever l.

It is to be understood that where hoisting mechanism is employed for actuating a car on an inclined track, it is the custom to connect the car to one end of the cable, the other end of the cable being attached to the drum of the apparatus.

During the ascent of the, car this cable is wound upon the drum by connecting the drum to a suitable power mechanism. During the descent of the car the drum is uncoupled from its driving mechanism and the weight of the car will be sufficient to unwmd the cable. As cars travel at high speeds upon inclined hoists it is necessary that some accurate means be employed for retarding the movement of the car as it approaches the upper limit of its movement and to bring it finally to a stop automatically so that there will be no danger of the car being pulled over the end of the tipple and thus wrecking the apparatus, and, if the car is being used for hoisting miners, causing fatalities.

The mechanism already described will meet the above requirements to provide a safe automatically controlled apparatus. "When the car is to start upon its upward trip along the inclined track the controller and brake levers 72 and 78 are shifted in one direction as indicated by the arrow in Fig. 3. This causes the lever 7 5 of the controller to be shifted quickly to one extreme position so that the motor will be started automatically point by point, as is true of all controllers of the drum type. At the same time the rod T9 will thrust against the depending arm of shaft 22 and cause the pin 25 to move downwardly, thereby shifting the valve gearing so as to direct pressure into the lower end of the cylinder 12. This will result in the upward movement of cross head 19 and links 20 and the elevation of the weighted member 9 of lever 7, and consequently, the downward movement of the fulcrum 5 of hell crank lever 4: and the resultant actuation of the bell crank lever 1, with the result that the brake band I will be loosened. ilxS soon as the motor begins to operate motion will be transmitted therefrom to the drum G by means of the gears E and F so that the cable connected to the car will be wound up and said car drawn upwardly.

As the car approaches the upper limit of its movement the shaft 43 which has been continuously rotating during the ascent of the car and has been gradually fed longitudinally by the thread l6, will bring the clutch member 52 into engagement with the clutch member 51. This action takes place preferably when the car is within 200 feet of its terminus although it is to be understood that the parts can be so proportioned as to couple together the clutch members at any other time during the movement of the car. As soon as the two clutch members come together the sleeve -18 and the gear at?) thereon will be coupled to the shaft a3 and rotate therewith. Consequently motion will be immediately transmitted through the gears 49, 57, 59 and 60 to the shaft 61 with the result that said shaft will be rotated at a high speed and the rack bar 66 will be given an intermittent right line movement. This will cause an intermittent actuation of the levers 72 and T8. The intermittent movement of lever 72 will shift the controller. lever '75 intermittently to gradually cut off the current to the motor and the intermittent actuation of the lever T8 will produce a gradual pull through rod 79 and the consequent elevation of arm 23 and lever 16. The valve gearing will thus be shifted to release pressure from the cylinder 12 and allow the weights 10 to gravitate and there by gradually apply the brake band 1. The springs 55 of the clutch mechanism will allow the shaft 43 to shift longitudinally after the clutch members have been brought into engagement with each other and the parts are so proportioned that just as the car reaches its terminus the power to the motor will be cut off and the brake band will be applied, thus holding the car securely against further movement. This gradual application of the brake and shutting off of power will bring the levers 72 and 78 automatically to their intermediate or full applied positions where they will lock. During the retarding process at the termination of the haul springs '77 on the rods '70 and 69 are strong enough to shift levers 72 and 78 without compression so that they will stand approximately vertically when the motor has been brought to a stop, with the trip at the end of the haul, with the brake applied, the controller off and the springs 77 fully extended.

To lower the trip the operator pushes the lever 78 forward in the direction of the arrow. Fig. 3, and compresses spring 77 on rod 70, thereb to release the brake and allow the drum to unwind. Lever 72 re mains vertical and the motor idle. While the trip is lowering through the first 200 feet the rods 69 and will be shifted away from the springs 77 to release them, this movement being transmitted through the chain 38 and its sprockets, the shafts and gears and the cam 63 and rack 66. The drum will immediately begin to rotate under the action of the car pulling on its cable and rack 66 will be returned to its initial position while the clutch members 52 and 51 remain in engagement with each other during the expansion of the spring 55 and, when the clutch member 52 finally becomes disengaged from the clutch member 51 and rack 66, Will be reset With the cam thread 64% in engagement with one end portion of the rack. Motion will be transmitted through the cam 63 to the rack bar 66 which will be shifted longitudinally and release the springs 77 which are being held under compression by the operator.

In the, event of the failure of the automatic control the hand lever 81 can be employed to apply the brake.

What is claimed is 1; In apparatus of the class described, the

combination with a hoisting drum, an'elec-.

tric motor for drivingthe same, and a 0on v troller, of normally inactive means for imparting a step by step movement to the controller to cut off the current to the motor, a clutch member operatively connected to said normally inactive means, a movable clutch member receiving motion from the motor, and means for automatically feeding the revolubleclntch member into engagement with the other clutch member after a predetermined number of revolutions of the drum. 7

2. In apparatus of the class described, the combination'with a hoisting drum, an electric motor vfor actuating the same and brake mechanism, of a controller, normally inactive means for imparting a step by step movement to the controller to gradually cut ofl the current to the motor, gravity operreducing the air revolutions of the drum, and means operated by said controller operating means for pressure and applying the brake mechanism;

3. In apparatus of the class described, the combination with a'winding drum, an electric motor for actuating the same and a controller, of a hand lever connected to the controller, a rack bar, revoluble means engaging the bar for imparting an intermit tent right line movement thereto, a yieldable connection'between said bar and the hand lever, a normally stationary clutch member operatively connected to the revoluble rack bar o aeia'ting means, a clutch member revoluble simultaneously with the .drum, and means for feeding therevoluble clutch member into engagement with the other clutch member after a predetermined number of revolutions of the drum to actuate the rack bar and controller and for disconnecting the clutch members after a predetermined number of revolutions of the drum inthe'opposite direction.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto afiixe'd my signature in the presence of a witness a DANIEL F. LEPLEY.

' \Vitness IVY E. SIMPSON. 

